1. 10 Payroll Tips and Tricks
to Save Time and Money
A publication by Paysavvy
2. — 2 —
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INTRODUCTION
Pay day is coming.
You’re calculating commission rates, inputting hours, and trying to find where you put that last invoice.
Which pay code corresponds to vacation earnings again? Deep breaths. Soon enough the last cheque will
be cut and then you can get back to the other work that’s been piling up—you know, the work of actually
growing your business.
Until, of course, the next pay run comes around.
The bigger your business gets, the more complicated processing payroll seems to become. When you’re
juggling cost centers, contract work, and overtime hours, Excel sheets just don’t cut it anymore—not if you
want to be cost-effective, and not if you want to stay compliant. Processing payroll is meticulous work,
subject to numerous, ever-changing regulations—and when you have a large workforce, these issues are
only magnified. Mistakes can be costly, resulting in unhappy employees at best and large fines or lawsuits
at worst. And don’t forget about the negative PR that comes from being non-compliant. With ramifications
like these, it’s no wonder that people spend so much time and money processing payroll. We get it, we
really do.
But we also think you shouldn’t have to commit that many hours and so much of your bottom line to payroll
expenses. Chances are you didn’t get into this industry just to obsess over payroll concerns and compliance
issues (that’s our corner of the market!). We want to help you get back to business—your real business,
whatever it might be. So whether you’re looking for a new payroll provider or you’re just interested in
getting the most out of the one you already have, we’ve compiled ten tips to help.
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Take a Thorough
Inventory
To save both time and money, you first have to know where you’re
spending the most of it. What specific tasks—like calculating
commission-based pay or reconciling timesheet data—are the most
time-consuming? Maybe adding a pay code to your software takes
forever. Does your provider ask you to file paperwork and then wait
two weeks to add or change codes? It might be time to switch your
software out, but if you’re not ready for that, develop a system where
payroll managers coordinate to submit multiple pay codes at the same
time. Taking an inventory of your payroll needs and processes helps
expedite the whole affair. After all, you’re going to be doing this again and again—so you might as well try
and make it as painless as possible.
Some other questions to consider include:
» How are you staying compliant with changing regulations?
» Who is responsible for the final approval of a pay run?
» How much time is devoted to manual data entry or ‘workarounds’?
» What are you paying for your current payroll provider, and how does it compare to other options
on the market?
In essence, you want to audit your own payroll processes. We know, we know, audits are never fun… but
trust us, the pay-off can be huge.
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Encourage Switching
to Direct Deposit
People in business are always talking about tangible results—and what’s more tangible than a cheque? It’s
proof of how hard someone has worked, a reminder of the hours put in. Conveniently, they come with a pay
stub attached, so detail-oriented employees can make sense of any deductions that have been taken off of
their earnings. But for payroll professionals, cheques are an absolute nightmare.
First they have to be printed, then signed. Don’t forget those envelopes—you want to protect your
employees’ privacy, after all. Then comes the question of distribution. Sure, there will always be employees
who make it a point to collect their cheques from you, but plenty of others will forget—and honestly, you
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have better things to do than chase them down. If an employee
misplaces a cheque, you’ll have to issue another, plus visit the
bank to set up a stop payment (and dole out an additional fee for
that!). Clearly, cheques are more trouble than they’re worth.
But how can you convince your employees to make the switch?
After all, they’re not the ones who have to print, sign, package, and
hand them all out. They don’t have to pay for each individual stop
payment fee. Nevertheless, directly deposited pay will benefit your
employees as well. Less time spent in line at the bank, for example,
strikes us as a major perk. Emphasize these benefits and work to preempt any potential objections. If
employees will miss the paper pay stub, for example, consider having it automatically emailed to them
instead. Your payroll provider can let you know if this option is available with their software.
The most reluctant converts will be those employees without a bank account—which means they are already
spending tons of money in cheque-cashing fees. Show them the potential savings and watch those direct
deposit forms roll in. It might also be helpful to offer employees a half day off, with the express purpose of
using it to set up a bank account. Wait times on the weekend can be a major deterrent when it comes to
opening a bank account. Why not make it a little easier on your employees?
Of course, some employees are unable to open bank accounts because of poor credit ratings. It’s important
to remain sensitive to this. Be wary of team-based incentives, like offering a catered lunch once fifty people
have switched over to direct deposit. And consider running optional evening seminars on building your
credit score: an employee might not be a candidate for direct deposit now, but you can help him be one in
the future.
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Setup Multiple
Levels of Access
If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself: in business, that maxim leads to bankruptcy.
Delegation is key to efficiency, so why are you still solely responsible for processing payroll? If you use
manual data entry, a second set of eyes can go a long way towards preventing mistakes. And if your
current payroll software doesn’t alert you to possible exceptions or conflicts, someone else might notice a
problem you’ve passed over. But even so, many people still choose to process payroll independently. The
question, of course, is why?
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Hint: nobody gets that possessive over payroll. But keeping confidential information secure is a major
concern. Obviously you don’t want everyone to have access to compensation structures, and maybe you’d
like to ensure you’re giving every pay run the final stamp of approval. But that doesn’t mean the monumental
task of processing payroll, beginning to end, has to fall to you.
Contact your software provider to have them set up multiple
levels of user access. Keep things in the department, so that
a payroll manager can only access information on a select
group of employees. Or put a vetting mechanism in place, so
that the CFO alone can put a pay run in motion. The options
are endless—but when it comes to processing payroll, your
workload doesn’t have to be.
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Process Payroll
from Anywhere
No one wants to deal with payroll problems while laying on the beach in Bermuda—but emergencies
happen, and it’s nice to have the option. With cloud-based payroll software, you can see to business while
seeing to your tan. That’s the kind of multi-tasking we can definitely get on board with.
The problem with traditional payroll software is that you’re tied
down—you have to access reports and employee information from a
device with the necessary plugins installed, and, in some cases, from
a certain web browser. That was one of Chris Mair’s major complaints
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with his former payroll provider. Between plugins and permissions and paperwork (oh my!) the CEO and
founder of Hellbent Games was losing valuable time processing payroll.
A cloud-based payroll software was the perfect solution: since the data is stored remotely, it can be accessed
as long as you have an internet connection. “The end user experience is amazing,” he says of his Paysavvy
software. “The interface is fast, easy to understand, and powerful.” Forget being tied to one machine—now,
Mair can add bonuses, adjust hours, and approve raises from his phone. Better yet, he can do it all in under
five minutes. So if you’re lying on that beach in Bermuda when an employee calls, take heart: with cloud-
based software, you can have any payroll concerns resolved before your next drink order is filled.
Some businesses are hesitant to switch over to cloud-based payroll software because of questions over
security. We understand—you owe it to your employees to keep their personal information, like social
insurance numbers and salaries, safe. But if you’re committed to your employees’ privacy, a cloud-based
payroll software is actually your best bet. Reputable cloud-based payroll providers have better than bank
grade security. Paysavvy’s servers, for example, are located in a tier 3 Rackforce facility and our disaster
recovery site can be fully operational within 60 minutes. Maybe it’s just us, but we think that’s safer than
housing payroll information in your desktop computer—which can easily be hacked, corrupted, or even
physically stolen.
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Stop Paying Late
Penalties
Between stat holidays and T4 deadlines, not to mention pay runs themselves, payroll professionals have
a lot to keep track of. A payroll calendar can help. Mark important dates and set reminders so that you
don’t miss a deadline—after all, the penalties for filing late can be steep. This is particularly important if
your business operates in different provinces: stat holidays, for example, vary widely from coast-to-coast.
No one likes getting paid late, so make sure you know exactly when Family Day falls this year, or how Fête
Nationale might affect direct deposits.
Make things even easier for yourself by choosing a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) approved payroll
provider. You might be surprised to learn that your current provider has not been vetted by the CRA—very
few are. But the CRA’s stamp is more than just a vote of confidence. A CRA approved payroll provider will
file your business’s remittances for you, taking one more thing off of your already full plate.
5
5 Features
CRA approved? Journal Entry Utility? API
integrations? See our complete checklist to find
out just what to ask any payroll provider.
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Be Transparent About
Payroll Processes
Anybody who has ever processed a pay run knows what comes next: knocks, lots of them. No matter how
careful you are about verifying your data entry or logging hours, there are always employees who have
questions about their pay. You can get out ahead by practicing transparency. Write out a detailed (and
readable!) policy to preempt any questions regarding pay. Make sure to include:
» How employees are classified. For example, what makes someone ‘part-time’ instead of ‘casual’?
» What determines salaries and bonuses. No one wants to feel like they’re making less for the
same work.
» The procedure for reporting payroll errors. They
happen to the best of us and it’s important that
employees feel comfortable bringing them to
your attention.
» How benefits and deductions are calculated.
Paystubs can be confusing, especially for
someone new to the workforce.
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Preparing and distributing this information will keep you from answering the same questions again and
again, plus streamline the process for dealing with errors. Employees will know exactly what forms to fill out
and what information to provide should their pay be miscalculated, which means the problem can be fixed
faster. Everybody wins!
But don’t stop there. Have an all-staff meeting to discuss payroll processes. You can find out from your
employees what works and what doesn’t with your current payroll processes. Perhaps they disagree with
the way bonuses are structured. Maybe they’d prefer to have their pay stubs emailed to them, or to receive
a text message any time their schedule is updated. Such things are possible with certain payroll providers.
When you cultivate an atmosphere of transparency, particularly surrounding the question of pay, your
employees are more likely to trust they are being fairly compensated—and as a result, they’re more likely to
stay. That equals less time reviewing resumes.
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Ensure Employee
Information is on File
and Up-To-Date
Every missing SIN number can cost you one hundred dollars. Failure to properly file a complete ROE is even
more expensive—we’re talking two thousand bucks each. And sending a T4 to the wrong address is a major
privacy concern. Clearly, there are many reasons to make sure that the information you have on file for your
employees is accurate and regularly verified.
Go paperless. It’s all too easy to forget about that dusty filing
cabinet in the corner (and even easier to misplace the key!). You’ll
find that something as simple as an Excel sheet is much easier to
keep updated—after all, you’ll see it on your desktop every morning.
Bonus: employees are more likely to inform you of an address change
when they can shoot off a quick email instead of filling out a lengthy
form. Remember, they’re busy too!
Again, the right payroll provider can help here. Some companies
offer human capital management software in addition to their payroll
solution. Paysavvy’s software, for example, allows you to create in-depth employee profiles and track
performance. You don’t have to worry about keeping confidential information under lock and key—we’ll do
that for you.
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Prevent Time Theft
Almost half of employees admit to committing time theft—taking additional breaks, checking their
Facebook, or leaving just a bit before five. Clocking out a little early might seem innocuous, but those
minutes add up to a huge expense for businesses, to the tune of millions of dollars.
Most employees don’t realize that stealing time is so harmful for business. As a result, something as simple
as clear and regular communication can help cut down on the time you lose each year. So can the right
payroll provider. As mentioned above, select companies—Paysavvy included—offer time and attendance
applications in addition to their payroll software. Use it to make sure you’re getting what you pay for from
your employees. For example, Paysavvy provides biometric clocks to prevent buddy-punching—it’s pretty
hard to fake someone else’s fingerprint.
Biometric clocks also make processing payroll easier, since they communicate directly with cloud-based
servers. Forget manual data entry or disputes over exactly how many hours an employee has worked: with
technology like this, those issues are things of the past. It’s a brave new world out there—make sure your
business is part of it.
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Keep Your
Options Open
Is anything more tedious or prone to error than manual data entry? We don’t think so. Stare at rows and
rows of Excel cells for a few hours and soon enough you’ll feel that headache start behind your eyes. Unless
you have shares in Advil, that’s probably something you can do without.
The solution is simple: find payroll software that will export and import data easily, from pdf, csv, or excel
files. There’s no guarantee that your business will favour Excel forever—so make sure your provider can
adjust to any changes you implement internally. In the same vein, you want to make sure that whatever
payroll software you pick is compatible with numerous internet browsers. Remember Chris Mair from
Hellbent Games? As an iPhone user, he hated that his outdated payroll software only worked with Internet
Explorer. He’s far happier now that he can use his preferred browser on any number of different devices.
Basically, you want to look for software that can grow and change with your business. ‘Customizable’ is the
key word. Otherwise, you’ll be looking for a new solution within a few years.
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Get Help
When You Need It
Too many payroll professionals think calling their payroll provider for help will mean hours on hold—and
when it comes to the incumbent companies, they’re right. Certainly, that was the case for Leslie Collin,
People and Culture Manager at Unbounce. “I dreaded dealing with our payroll provider’s automated calling,
queueing, and undertrained staff,” she remembers. Her focus was supposed to be on HR concerns like
recruitment and retention, but thanks to antiquated software and lacklustre client support, she was wasting
valuable time on routine payroll concerns.
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No one wants to wait on hold, but the immediate alternative—
googling answers to highly specific questions—can be risky.
Compliance rules are complicated and ever-changing—and
however much we might want it to be, “I didn’t know!” is never
an acceptable excuse. For Collin, switching payroll providers
was the only thing that made sense. Chris Mair of Hellbent
Games had a similar experience. He estimates that switching
software now saves him upwards of 150 hours each year.
If you’re like Collin and Mair, changing payroll providers might
be your best option. Consider your preferred method of
receiving support. Are you an avid Twitter user? Look for a
provider that responds to its clients over social media. Would you prefer to pick up the phone and talk to a
real person? Vet any potential providers by calling their support line well in advance of switching over. Make
sure to ask whether Support Representatives are certified by the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA). How
else can you ensure you’ll receive expert help?
Meanwhile, bookmark valuable resources that you can return to the next time a payroll question comes up.
Of course, we recommend the Paysavvy blog—it has tools for stat pay and bonus calculations, among other
things—but government websites are another reputable resource. The CRA even offers free videos and
webinars to address common payroll concerns. The internet can’t replace a direct line to a CPA certified
professional, but it can make things easier a lot of the time.
Augus t
Vacation !
150 hours - that’s a 6 day vacation!
See the Hellbent case study to
learn more.
18. — 18 —
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CONCLUSION
Ready to get started? Here’s a quick recap of what you can do right away:
» Take a thorough inventory. Where are you spending the most time and money on your payroll
processes? What’s working … and more importantly, what isn’t?
» Ask your employees to consider having their pay directly deposited. Maybe they’ll be on board
right away, but if not, explain the benefits.
» Contact your payroll provider to set up multiple levels of user access. You can delegate while
keeping confidential information private.
» Create or download a payroll calendar. Paysavvy has a comprehensive guide, no matter what
province you are in.
» Write down internal pay policies and distribute them to your employees. Want to go a step
further? Hold a meeting to address concerns over pay schedules, bonuses, or compensation
structures.
» Bookmark helpful resources. The CRA has a ton of information for payroll professionals—and if
you liked this eBook, you might want to check out the rest of our content as well.
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There are also some more long-term solutions to consider, particularly as your business grows. It’s time to
ask the tough questions:
» Is your payroll provider CRA approved? Will they file your remittances for you?
» Can you access your payroll information from anywhere? Or are you tied down to a
single machine?
» Are you confident in the assistance you receive? For example, are Client Support
Representatives CPA certified?
» Can your current payroll provider accommodate your business’s continued growth?
You’re looking for a long-term relationship—not a fling.
If you’re not happy with the answers, it’s time to consider making a switch. Sure, you’ll have to go through
the implementation process, but that never takes as long as you think (trust us—we should know!) And the
hours you’ll save in the long run just might make up for it. Remember, there’s only so far short-term solutions
can take you. When it comes to saving time and money, the real pay-off comes from finding a provider who
is the right fit for your business.
Pay day is coming. Are you ready?
20. MODERN, POWERFUL
HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
Full cycle cloud-based payroll for mid to large-sized businesses.
We handle all direct deposits, cheques, statements of earnings,
ROEs, T4s, and payroll reports. With Paysavvy, you get everything
needed for complete payroll processing, HR, and time and
attendance tracking.
Request a Live Demo
from our Payroll Experts!
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